Southside Sips: Campfire Old-Fashioned

Boy, it was nippy this week. Morning dog walks, trying to get from the car to a store without losing your hat, drafty windows — all of it letting you know it’s cozy time, people. And that means bourbon.

In that realm, the Old-Fashioned reigns supreme. This easy-to-make cocktail started life pre-Prohibition, as all the best spirit-sugar-water-bitters concoctions did. But bad hooch masked with chunks of muddled fruit and sugar created a path upon which this excellent drink was led astray.

“The Martini and Manhattan have long been recognized as owning space atop the Mount Olympus of classic cocktails, But, not too long ago, the Old-Fashioned’s footing on that mountain was shaky,” writes drinks expert and author Robert Simonson in his book The Old-Fashioned: The Story of the World’s First Classic Cocktail. “Fortunes reversed sharply for the unlucky Old-Fashioned only a handful of years ago, when a few keen-eyed mixologists and arm-chair drink historians spied the outline of the cocktails true soul hiding behind all that sacchariferous window dressing.”

Indeed, the drink’s near-total restoration to gently sweetened sanity has proven a boon for bourbon lovers, and a good canvas for gentle tweaks and twists on the original. We’re particularly digging this open-the-flue version from the good folks at Bib & Tucker Bourbon (which you can easily find on the shelves of Park Place Wines & Liquors in East Hampton). A little smoky from the double barrel char notes in the whiskey and a little herby-nutty, with its sweetness coming from maple syrup instead of simple syrup, we’re ready gather ’round the fire with one of these this weekend and welcome the wintry weather with a clink.